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On 25th February 2014 Sun produced X4.9 flare which on 27th February caused G2 (KP 6) geomagnetic storm on Earth. It was the brightest aurora display so far during this solar maximum which I could witness with auroral displays overhead in the far north of Scotland. This short movie illustrates what has been seen from latitude 58.3 degrees north.

Hundreds of people all over Britain braved the freezing late night and early mornings but declared the experience one well worth getting frozen for.

Those lucky enough to see them described spectacular waves, streaks or curtains of pale green and pink, but shades of red, yellow, blue and violet were also spotted.

It’s rare for northern lights to be seen from anywhere in Britain and when they are visible it is usually from Shetland, Orkney or the north of Scotland.

Last week however, good sightings could be had from all over the country as far south as Norfolk. These amazing multicoloured ethereal light displays are caused by collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter into the earth’s atmosphere.

They are more common much further north and British tourists normally need to take cruises or air holidays to northern latitudes if they want to see the amazing spectacle.

Polar lights — the aurora polaris — are a natural phenomenon found in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The northern versions are called aurora borealis while the southern lights aurora australis.

They were first named by two great early astronomers Pierre Gassendi and Galileo Galilei both of whom witnessed a spectacular display in September 1621. They jointly named the phenomena aurora borealis — the northern dawn.

Much earlier, a thousand years ago, Gregory of Tours, Gallo-Roman historian, scientist and later saint looked into the night sky over France and saw a light “… so bright that you might have thought that day was about to dawn.”

We now know the origin of the aurora starts on the surface of the sun when solar activity ejects a cloud of gas. If one of these reaches Earth it collides with its magnetic field two or three days after leaving the sun.

Our planet’s magnetic field is invisible but if it could be seen it would make Earth look like a comet with a long magnetic tail stretching a million miles behind us away from the sun.

When a coronal mass ejection — as the stream of cloud of gas from the sun’s surface is more properly named — collides with the magnetic field it causes complex changes to happen to the magnetic tail region.

These changes generate currents of charged particles, which then flow along lines of magnetic force towards the Earth’s poles.

The particles are boosted in energy in Earth’s upper atmosphere and when they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms they produce the dazzling light shows that are the aurora.

Beautiful they may be but the invisible flows of particles and magnetism can damage electrical power grids and also affect satellites operating in space.

The lights can be in place day and night but are not bright enough to be visible in daylight. For the same reason in cities or towns with lots of light pollution you are unlikely to get good viewing.

Auroras tend to be more frequent and spectacular during high solar sunspot activity and these cycle over periods of approximately 11 years. That is what is happening now.

Some displays are particularly spectacular and make the headlines. This happened in August-September 1859, in February 1958, which I remember seeing as a London schoolboy, and in March 1989 the last time really good sightings were possible in southern England.

Last February produced spectacular solar activity and a few relatively clear nights again gave some lucky stargazers a chance to see the spectacular and colourful light show.

This year has been even better and there is a good chance that the shows aren’t over. Keep your eyes on those northern skies.

“The master race has never been very bright or attractive, so before the march even started two senior figures in the National Front were arrested,” said a spokesman for anti-racism group Hope Not Hate.

– Just four people turned out to a demo in Edinburgh by Germany-based right-wing outfit Pegida on Saturday.

It is understood that the first allegation against the cardinal dates back to 1980. The complainant was then a 20-year-old seminarian at St Andrew’s College, Drygrange, where O’Brien was his “spiritual director”.

Clara Govier, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, says: “Players are in love with the story of the female Osprey at Loch of the Lowes and that makes supporting this competition all the more special.

“Our players will be watching the ospreycam to make sure they don’t miss her return.”

Every year, the webcam on the nest attract over a million viewers from 96 different countries including: Vietnam, Zimbabwe, and Kuwait.

A special feature has been launched this season giving viewers a chance to receive behind-the-scenes insights from the team at Loch of the Lowes.

Bigwigs decided a donation would be considered less toxic if it was focused on key constituencies.

In a letter accompanying the cheques, Mr Blair wrote: “I know how hard it can be to raise money to fund a local campaign, but for you, in one of our 106 battleground seats, it is even more vital.”

But writing on Twitter, Ms Brennan said: “Received donation from Tony Blair. Instinct was to not accept. Discussed with team. Dundee East is not accepting the £1,000.”

Several other candidates are known to be consulting their local members on whether to follow suit.

One candidate in a target seat told the Star: “It’s like being force-fed putrid goats’ brains.”

Respect MP George Galloway demanded Labour publish a list of those who had accepted the donations and said his former opponent Imran Hussein — who is now standing in a neighbouring seat — had also rejected the offer.

The money is from a war chest of more than £100,000 that the former prime minister has given to help the party win 106 key seats. Brennan, currently a councillor for the East End area of Dundee, is seeking to overturn a majority of 1,821 held by the SNP’s Stewart Hosie.

This morning she tweeted: “Received donation from Tony Blair. Instinct was to not accept. Discussed with team. Dundee East is not accepting the £1000.”

Blair’s six-figure donation was accepted by Labour last week, with the party saying it was “delighted” that he was backing Ed Miliband’s campaign for Downing Street with his own cash.

…

Brennan was unavailable for further comment on Sunday afternoon.

The SNP said that all five Labour candidates in marginal seats in Scotland who received donations from Blair should reject them. Angus Robertson, the SNP MP for Moray, said: “It proves that this was bad money that would do Labour in Scotland no good, and we challenge the other four constituencies in Scotland to do the same.”